Missing Moments
by Russet022
Summary: AU. Two short one-shots that fit into Bound by Moonlight and fill in two missing moments in the lives of Remus and Tilia Lupin. Remus/Tilia. Rated T for one word in the second chapter.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: An explanation of how everyone found out that Remus is a werewolf. Also, since I mention in chapter 17 that Remus is a ward-smith, this chapter explains how he learned all of that as well.

Chapter Seven and a Half: Discovered

Remus stood against the side of a long room. It looked something like the Great Hall at Hogwarts, only smaller. The high ceiling was lost in shadow, though something rustled high above. Two other boys, slightly older than Remus' eighteen years, stood with Remus, as if they were waiting in line. Each boy clutched a roll of parchment. Remus appeared to be the calmest of the three, merely swallowing nervously instead of shifting from foot to foot, or tapping his parchment against his leg in an annoying rhythm.

At the front of the hall, four men sat behind a table. Each wore robes that marked them officially as master spell-smiths—two for charms, one for transfiguration, and one for wards and defensive spells. They had just accepted a girl, if her relieved grin was anything to go by. Once the doors of the hall had closed behind her, the masters turned to a list. Arthur Carraway, a grey-haired man with pale green eyes, wearing the robes of a master ward-smith, called out, "Applicant number 13."

Remus swallowed again, and went to stand before the table. His steps were steady, though his hands trembled slightly as he handed the scroll to Master Carraway. The four masters reviewed the longer application written on the parchment, every so often murmuring to each other so quietly that even Remus could not hear them.

Finally, the master ward-smith looked up. "Lupin, is it?"

"Yes, sir?"

"If you could demonstrate…?"

Remus easily answered all their questions, and performed each spell they wanted to see. With each correct answer, Remus relaxed a little bit more. He was still tense, but he did not appear as worried.

"That will be all, thank you."

Remus slid his wand away and impatiently pushed his hair from his face.

The murmurs as the four masters once again conferred sounded positive now. Just as they seemed to reach a decision, an owl landed in front of the transfiguration master.

"If you'll excuse us a moment?" the man asked Remus, frowning at the owl.

"Yes, sir."

The master pulled the letter open. His face paled as he read it, then passed it to each of the other masters in turn. Their reactions varied, though only the ward-smith's expression was unconcerned. The other three muttered together, uneasy. Remus swallowed, nervous again.

When Master Carraway set the letter down, the second charms master said, "It says here that you are a werewolf."

"What?" Remus asked, surprised. He had been so sure that no one knew. But the nervous squeak in his voice and his embarrassed flush gave him away.

"It's true, then," the transfiguration master said.

Miserably, Remus nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Well, then. I'm sorry to say that we cannot accept—"

"Come, now, Patrick," Carraway said. "He's just a boy. And look at what he's done—his O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s are outstanding, he has the recommendation of Albus Dumbledore himself—"

"He's a werewolf, Arthur," the other snapped.

"He won't be your student; he will be mine. You won't have any responsibility for him," Carraway said severely.

"I'm not having that—thing—in this school," the other master hissed. "Think of the other students, and what the parents will say!"

"They do not need to know, it is not their business."

"Of course they need to know! Dumbledore may be going senile, but everyone should know. It's not safe; it's not right."

Arthur Carraway looked at Remus Lupin and said, "I'm sorry."

"It's no more than I expected, sir," Remus said quietly. He turned to go, but paused. "Oh, and, sir?" The ward-smith raised an eyebrow. "Thank you."

Carraway nodded. Remus left with his head held high.

Arthur Carraway was a man who believed that talent should never be wasted, and that everyone, whatever their circumstances, had a right to learn. A week later, he sent Remus a letter, offering to give him private lessons. Remus gratefully accepted.

And Remus learned, unrestricted by the class structure of the school. When Carraway was killed, four years later, near the end of the war, Remus was only weeks away from completing his journeyman work. He was Carraway's last student. And, when the second war finally ended, Remus was able to prove himself worthy of his teacher. The masters' council did, eventually, many years after the war's end, grant Remus the title of Master Ward-smith.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: In which Tilia discovers a very important potion. Warning-there is one swear word in this chapter.

Chapter Fourteen and a Half: Wolfsbane

Tilia sat at wooden table in a low, cool, stone room. Her head rested on her arms. She had apparently fallen asleep at work. Sheaves of notes were scattered across the near half of the table, and she had ink on her hands. Something slightly sticky covered the far end of the table, dripping slowly down the back left leg. A cauldron was gently simmering to her right; it was smoking unpleasantly, rather like Wolfsbane. The thick smoke was vented out a long, thin slit near the ceiling.

Suddenly an alarm sounded—not the blaring alarm of a smoke detector, but the raucous buzz of an alarm clock.

Tilia groaned and unstuck her face from her arm, looking around blearily and sitting up straight. As she massaged a crick from her neck, her eyes fell on the potion and her whole expression lit with hope.

"It's stable," she whispered. And then she groaned. "Time to start the paperwork."

A month and a half later, the full moon set, and the sun rose. Tilia was sitting outside a holding cell at the Ministry of Magic, watching the transformation of a feral werewolf who had been caught two days before stealing scraps out behind the Three Broomsticks. The ragged man stretched painfully before sitting up on the stone floor and glaring at her.

"It did what you said it would. I remember last night. I didn't need to kill, but God knows, if I could have reached you, I would have. Stuff tastes like shit and doesn't get rid of the pain. And now I know how much it hurts, thanks so very much." His voice was a growl, and the last dripped sarcasm.

"I'll be sure to try to work in a pain-killer," she said with a sigh, knowing that there was no pleasing some people. For a beginning, not wanting to rip people to shreds should have been good enough, considering most people believed that to even suppress the wolf's mind, let alone cure the transformation, was impossible. But it _was_ a start towards that cure and she could be content with that.

He snarled in response and turned away.

She scribbled a few more notes onto the parchment she held in her lap. It took a few moments for the impact of his words to sink in.

"I did it," she whispered. An incredulous smile curved her lips and she jumped to her feet. With a loud crack, she Apparated home.

"Remus, I did it! I did it!" she shouted, grinning hugely.

"Where's the fire?" he asked groggily, coming down the stairs.

She laughed. "I'm half-way there. I found a way to suppress the wolf's mind during the full moon."

Hope lit in Remus' eyes, as she explained all about it.

The next month, Remus sat up in the sunlight with a groan and a smile.

"Well?" she asked.

"It worked," he said. "I won't have to worry about hurting anyone again. Still hurts me worse than anything though. Not that it matters." He leaned over and kissed her soundly. "But you know what?"

"What?"

"It really does taste disgusting, you know."

She mock-glared at him, then sniffed disdainfully. "Go to sleep," she said, rather than dignify his remark, since she knew he was mostly teasing. Pulling her down beside him with a smile and another kiss, he was only too happy to oblige.


End file.
